Black and white South Africans scuffled in heated confrontations reminiscent of racial apartheid today as two farm workers were charged with the murder of Eugene Terre'Blanche.

Police erected a barbed wire barricade between the two groups after they faced off and sang rival anthems outside the heavily guarded magistrates court in Ventersdorp, North-West province.

Two males, aged 28 and 15, were formally charged with murder, housebreaking with intent to rob, attempted robbery with aggravating circumstances, and crimen injuria [the act of impairing the dignity of another] against Terre'Blanche because, prosecutor George Baloyi explained, "they exposed his private parts".

A big crowd gathered outside the court, starkly divided along racial lines in a throwback to the days of segregation before the release and election of Nelson Mandela.

Hundreds of white farmers and supporters of Terre'Blanche's far-right Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) movement had gathered to protest over his killing last weekend. Some were waving the apartheid-era national flag and refusing to speak to black journalists.

There was a smaller group of black spectators from a nearby township, determined to show they could now stand where they pleased.

An AWB leader addressed the white group before they broke into a rendition of Die Stem, the national anthem before the dawn of multiracial democracy in 1994. Black spectators responded with Zulu choruses from the new national anthem, Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika.

A middle-aged white woman sprayed an energy drink on the black group and some white spectators reportedly began singing a folk song, "Bobbejaan klim die berg" (the baboon climbs the mountain). A scuffle threatened to spiral out of control before police stepped in and Pieter Steyn of the AWB apologised for the woman's actions.

Around 200 police officers formed a human wall between the two groups and erected coils of razor wire to keep them apart. A tense calm followed.

The court hearing was held in camera because one of the accused is a minor. The older of the two suspects – with a jacket fixed firmly over his head blocking his face from view – was later walked out of the courthouse, put into a police vehicle and driven away. By then, white protesters had left, leaving only hundreds of black people who screamed, cat-called and ululated in support.

"We are celebrating the death of the man who has abused us so much," one woman in the crowd shouted.

Brenda Abrams, a 30-year-old black businesswoman who was at the courthouse, said a "big fuss" was being made about Terre'Blanche's death. "But nobody says anything when black farmworkers are killed," she added.

Baloyi said the entire trial would be held in camera. A new hearing was set for 14 April.

A legal representative for the 15-year-old said that he has not confessed to the murder. But his mother claimed that the pair killed the farmer because he had not paid them since December.

Terre'Blanche's daughter, Bea, told South Africa's The Star newspaper that her father had been unable to pay his workers because it was the Easter weekend and he could not get to a bank. "He was not refusing to pay them," she told the paper. "That's not true."

The AWB has blamed the murder on Julius Malema, leader of the youth wing of the African National Congress, after he insisted on singing an apartheid-era protest song containing the words, "Shoot the Boer". But yesterday , the group withdrew its threat of violent revenge.

Malema has denied any link between the song and the murder. "The song has been sung before I was born," he said. "I started singing it when I was nine years old. I don't know why Terre'Blanche was not killed at that time."

He added: "If there is anybody who wants to assassinate me, they will find me ready for them. I'm not going to be scared of Boers – I've fought them many times before. If they want to fight me they are welcome.

Helen Zille, leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, demanded an urgent meeting with Zuma and called on him to rein in Malema.

"It is time for Jacob Zuma to act like a president and tell his youth league and its leader that we cannot allow our history of division to destroy our chances of building a shared future," she said.

"The farming community in our country, both farmers and farm workers, is understandably angry about their ongoing vulnerability to violent attacks and murder. It is not good enough for the government or for ministers to hide behind bureaucratic obfuscation and promises of future action."

The AWB claims to have had at least 3,000 membership applications since the murder. Terre'Blanche, who was 69, is due to be buried at his farm on Friday.